


just the way you make me feel

by stirringsofconsciousness



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Discussions of sexuality, F/M, continuation of 2.14, no actual sex though, post-coital scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 06:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13944516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stirringsofconsciousness/pseuds/stirringsofconsciousness
Summary: continuation of 2.14.It was only afterwards -- after they got back to the Pembrooke, after he’d spoken to Hiram, after he’d sat through the three-course meal that was the Lodges’ version of a casual Sunday family meal, and after he and Veronica had completed a quick twenty-minute welcome-back-to-Riverdale-aren’t-you-glad-we’re-alive-me-too-you-on-top session, plus both making separate and necessary post-coital trips to the bathroom -- that Archie finally got around to asking the _other_ question on his mind.He shifted his weight awkwardly from foot to foot before sitting down on what was becoming “his” side of the bed. “So, you and Betty kissed?”





	just the way you make me feel

It was only afterwards -- after they got back to the Pembrooke, after he’d spoken to Hiram, after he’d sat through the three-course meal that was the Lodges’ version of a casual Sunday family meal, and after he and Veronica had completed a quick twenty-minute welcome-back-to-Riverdale-aren’t-you-glad-we’re-alive-me-too-you-on-top session, plus both making separate and necessary post-coital trips to the bathroom -- that Archie finally got around to asking the _other_  question on his mind.

He shifted his weight awkwardly from foot to foot before sitting down on what was becoming “his” side of the bed. “So, you and Betty kissed?”

Veronica looked up sharply from the book she was reading, her eyes magnified by her reading glasses. “We have,” she said warily. “This is news?”

“It’s news to me,” Archie said.

“Well, _somebody_  didn’t keep up with the back-to-school gossip this year,” Veronica replied, before looking back down at her book. “Too busy being hot for teacher, I suppose.”

“Ronnie,” Archie groaned. “I mean, why did you kiss Betty? Jughead just said Betty explained it and he still didn’t understand.”

Veronica closed her book. Archie could see the cover: L'amica geniale Elena Ferrante.  _Cool, she’s reading about cars._  She gave him a long look through her reading glasses. “Well, I can’t tell you what Betty’s explanation to Jughead was like, but _my_  motivation was to get her on the River Vixens squad. Successfully, I might add.”

Archie’s forehead wrinkled. “Why would that get her onto the squad?”

“Because, Archiekins,” Veronica said, still looking at him through her glasses, “I wanted Cheryl to see Betty as someone who can be sensual and sexual, instead of as the prim-and-proper girl-next-door she had boxed Betty into in her mental schema. Besides, I thought Cheryl might find two girls kissing...titillating.”

“Why?” Archie asked.

Veronica took off her glasses and gave him a long look.

“...you’re kidding me.”

“I’ve never seen anyone as sapphically repressed as our dear Cheryl Blossom,” Veronica intoned. “I can’t wait for her to figure that out.”

“But -- but -- she kissed me! After the maple tapping thing!”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “As I said, repressed. Besides, you and Cheryl kissed? When were you going to tell me that? Really, Archiekins, how many different women have you kissed since we met? It’s amazing that _you’re_  the jealous one, and not me.”

“I’m not jealous,” Archie defended himself. “I’m just...curious.”

“There seems to be a lot of that going around,” Veronica said sweetly. “On that topic, how _did_  you and Jughead resolve your testosterone-laden differences? Did you decide to close the circle, kissing-wise?”

“Ronnie! No, never! He’s like my brother!”

Veronica raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, like that really makes a difference in this town.” Her lips quirked. “Or in other towns, honestly. Remind me to tell you about some _fabulous_ Hollywood gossip I have regarding a few stars and starlets who say ‘he’s like my brother’ in a very, hmm, Angelina Jolie slash James Haven kind of way.”

The thing about Ronnie, the utterly crazy thing about Ronnie, was how she could just drop things like that into casual conversation. Every day that Archie was with her, he could feel his horizons expanding. She was magic, she was bottled lightning, she was a whisper of the world outside of Riverdale. He felt like -- though he’d deny even thinking along these lines under pain of death, torture, or never playing music again -- Jasmine following Aladdin on his magic carpet ride, seeing the world outside the palace for the first time. She was intoxication, but way better than beer.  

And so usually he’d follow her down whatever path she took, feeling like a hayseed yokel but being okay with it because every moment he was in her presence, the potential for a brighter, shinier Archie Andrews shone out. She got him into a place where he could be the person he wanted to be. And if the price for that was feeling out of place sometimes, or having to learn what a cravat was and where you put it on, or eating at restaurants where they had dress codes and weirdly-shaped sink faucets and something called a “mater D” and they didn’t even print the prices on the menus -- that was all a price he would pay, happily and gladly, and never feel the poorer for.

But this, he had to know the answer to.

“So you and Betty kissing had nothing to do with, like, _liking_  her?”

Veronica’s eyes flicked away from his. “I didn’t say that.”

Something inside Archie went “click”, very quietly, and he couldn’t tell what it was, confirmation or jealousy or both.

“So you _do_  like Betty.”

“I didn’t say that either!” Veronica protested. “And again, this was long before we started dating, and it was even before you and I had kissed that first time. I have turned over my leaves. I am fully committed. I’m even committed to no threesomes unless every person is on the same page, because they get messy otherwise.”

Part of Archie’s -- well, maybe not his brain -- noted that Veronica was carefully not admitting that she had _definitely_  participated in threesomes in the past.

Veronica went on, impassioned, voice just slightly higher pitched than her normal tones. “I just -- when I met Betty the first time, I was absolutely drawn to her. Moth meet flame, etc. But I didn’t know exactly _why_  I was attracted to her, whether it was friendship or a crush or what. And now that I know her, I know that we’re meant to be best friends, and I’m okay with that. But yes, there _may_  have been a tiny crush at first, and that may have been the underlying inspiration for the, um, specific intervention that I took at the River Vixens tryouts. And that’s it!”

She moved closer to Archie on the bed, her bare shoulder brushing his arm, her hand lightly touching his thigh. Archie recognized the signs of a coming Veronica seduction and valiantly rallied to remain on his point.

“So you’re into girls?”

Veronica’s tone turned frosty. “I’m into people. As you can tell, I’m definitely into you.” _This present moment not included_  went unsaid. “And like I said, it doesn’t matter. We’ve already said that our pasts don’t matter. I’m with you, what does it matter if I find a girl hot? Most guys would be turned on by that.”

Archie hunched. “I just...I want to make sure I’m enough for you.” It sounded small and pathetic when he said it out loud. “And if you like girls, then I can’t ever be. Because I’m not one. A girl, I mean.”

Veronica’s hand reached out and stroked his head. “Archie. I’m with you. I love you. That should be enough.”

_But I’ll never be._

Archie shook his head to clear it, and determinedly moved on. “So what...what...variety are you?”

“Variety?” Veronica’s eyes flashed with laughter, and she moved to settle herself against his arm. “Am I a hothouse flower now?”

“Like, I know that Kevin’s gay, he came out when we were ten or whatever. But what are you, exactly? Are you...bisexual?”

“Ugh. I don’t like labels. Once you say you’re one thing, then people get all riled up about what you’re not. I like _people_ , isn’t that enough?”

“So how do you know who you... like?” Archie pressed.

“You’re not being jealous right now, are you? You shouldn’t be, Archiekins. Just because Toni Topaz’s a total fox doesn’t mean I’m going to make out with her the minute your back is turned.”

Archie’s forehead wrinkled. “Wait, who’s Toni? You mean, Jughead’s friend?”

Veronica snorted. “Sure, ‘friend’. Let’s go with that. How do I know who I like? How does anyone know that?” She curled up and gave him a small, secret smile. “Haven’t you ever felt that from someone? You just see someone and they draw your gaze like a magnet, and you find yourself wanting to do anything to impress them?”

Archie considered that. He’d certainly felt that with Veronica, and also with Geraldine. And also, now that he was thinking about it, more than a little bit with Hiram in a rather worrying way. “I guess so...”

“So I feel that, and that’s how I know. And you’re the person I love.” The top of Veronica’s head met his chin, and he felt her nuzzle him. “So why are you worried about anything else?”

 _Because I’m seeing the way this will end._  He kissed the top of her head. “No reason, Ronnie.”

“Good.” With a deft move, she turned around and straddled his lap. “In that case, I have some more ideas for what we can do tonight, as our weekend was so rudely interrupted...”

And as usual, without a word of protest, he followed where she led.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Janelle Monáe's amazing "Make Me Feel" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGRzz0oqgUE), suggested by the most wonderful friend and beta village_skeptic. 
> 
> I'm on tumblr: http://stirringsofconsciousness.tumblr.com/
> 
> Comments and crit are most welcome!


End file.
